Aretha Franklin Cancels Upcoming Concerts on ‘Doctors’ Orders’

Aretha Franklin has canceled a handful of upcoming concerts following a recommendation by her doctors to rest up. "Due to doctors' orders I will have to cancel a few concerts for the next month or so," the soul legend said in a statement Monday.

At least five shows have been canceled, including an August 26th performance at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, the Associated Press reports. A pair of Radio City Music Hall shows in New York – an appearance at the Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 show on September 15th and Franklin's solo concert on September 23rd – have also been canceled along with October gigs in Detroit and St. Louis.

As of now, Franklin plans on returning to the stage in November, first for a November 11th gig in Welch, Minnesota followed a day later by a concert in Chicago.

In March, Franklin nixed a pair of Florida concerts "due to lack of band personnel." Six months earlier, the singer canceled an Oklahoma performance because she didn't want to travel again after a West Coast trek. "After such a long, 4,200-mile drive to the West Coast in July, I'm not prepared to drive as far west so soon again. I am so sorry to have to disappoint my fans there, but I will reschedule," Franklin said at in October.

However, the upcoming canceled concerts are the first time Franklin has called off a performance for health reasons since August 2015, when she cancelled a Las Vegas show due to exhaustion.